Falconeye Review 2: Sonic and the Secret Rings
Sonic and the Secret Rings is the first installment of the Storybook Series. It was published by Sega for the Nintendo Wii. Plot Sonic is sleeping and wakes up and finds this genie sitting there. She says her name is Shara and that the Arabian Nights world is being erased by the Erazer Jinn, who is better know as the genie of the lamp form Aladdin. She says that he was corrupted by the power his lamp held over him and started rewriting the pages of the Arabian Nights so that he would be the ruler of not just the Arabian World, but also Sonic's world eventually. So Sonic is whisked into the world of the Arabians and meets up with some of the Arabian Night's most well known characters (who look pretty familiar...), such as King Sharyar (Eggman), Ali Baba (Tails), and Sinbad the Sailor (Knuckles). Amy (thankfully) only appears in multiplayer mode. So he starts gathering the Seven World Rings (the equivalent to Chaos Emeralds) so he can defeat the Erazer Jinn and restore the pages of the thousand and one nights. Gameplay The only player you can play as in adventure mode is Sonic. You move sonic by tilting the wii remote (ugh, couldn't they have just used the Wiimote/Nunchuck Combo?) It's completely on rails. There's no hub worlds, you just go from stage to stage. Some stages require you to do certain things, like collect a certain number of rings, defeating a certain number of enemies, or even racing the genie of the wind. Multiplayer Mode In multiplayer mode, you play by tourself, or with up to 3 other players. The default characters for multiplayer are Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Amy. Eventually, you can unlock Shadow, Silver, Blaze, and Cream. Most of the minigames in this mode are extremely boring and feel like a chore playing. Stats Publisher: SEGA ESRB Rating: E for Everyone Release Date (NA): February 20, 2007 Platforms: Wii Good Aspects Sonic and the Secret Rings definently puts a different approach on he Sonic series. I enjoyed using Time Break and Speed Break, but other than that, there's not much to say. The soundtrack is also amazing, but that's to be expected from Sonic the Hedgehog. Bad Aspects Sonic and the Secret Rings is in my opinion one of the worst installments in the Sonic series. I don't think the Story book idea was very good, because the sequel, "Sonic and the Black Knight," was pretty bad too. Maybe it will improve in the final chapter, which by judging the most recent 3D Sonic Games, Sonic Colors and Sonic Generations, I think it could very well be pretty good. Another thing I don't like is the fact that the game is on rails. Now, I'm okay with rail games, I love Star Fox 64, but Sonic on rails? It's just a sign that this game was made on a very low budget in very little time. Also, it's hard to control Sonic's jump because of the rail layout, and the airboost doesn't control well. There's little to no way to control how far it goes, so you'll find yourself over or undershooting the platform you wanted to land on a lot, usually sending you hurtling to your death. It also takes forever to stop while you're running. In the classic games if you stop moving forward, you skid to a stop in less than 2 seconds. In this game, depending on your speed, it can take anywhere from 2 seconds to 15 seconds. Really, you have no idea how many times I have died in this game because of that. Oh, and the spin dash is still no where to be seen. The voice actors are pretty bad too, especially Knuckles/ Sinbad. Family Friendliness Sonic and the Secret Rings is one of the darker of the Sonic games. In one cut scene, Sonic says that gathering the seven rings might just open the gates of hell. The rings also, like the Chaos Emeralds, give the holders unnatural powers. Also, this game deals with curses and the erasing of history, something that I would caution some parents to. I would reccomend it to ages 9 and up. Conclusion Okay, if you guys haven't figured out yet, I don't like this game. With bad voice actors, awkward controls, but good music, I'll give it a 4/10 with the title of BAD.